Chapter 88: Rules

"Don't move, everyone, don't move!" When Li Huowang's voice echoed in the dim bamboo forest, everyone instantly froze in place.

They stood motionless, gazing up at the rows of sharp bamboo tips above them, fearing they might plunge straight down.

"Nobody move," Li Huowang said, then lifted his right foot and took a step forward.

Seeing this, everyone's hearts leaped into their throats, but they collectively exhaled in relief when the bamboo above showed no change.

After Li Huowang took a few more steps and circled the area, the bamboo remained exactly as it was, unchanged.

"Could it be... could it be that the bamboo in this strange place just grows like this?" Gouwa asked hesitantly.

Regardless, Li Huowang dared not guess. He began to shake a bell with one hand, and Master You, formed by lines, swiftly patrolled around the bamboo forest.

After a while, when Master You returned to Li Huowang and indicated there were no issues, Li Huowang's heart eased slightly.

His relief wasn't from what Master You said, but because the strange feeling of being watched had vanished.

Li Huowang didn't immediately put Master You away; instead, he continued forward with it.

Although the constant ringing was dizzying, it was better than being ambushed by the so-called "Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month."

"Keep up, everyone. Let's get through this forest quickly."

As Li Huowang spoke, he walked deeper into the bamboo forest, shaking the bell. He flicked open the buckle of his leather bag with a finger, and the torture tools inside quickly spread out near his hem, glowing faintly under the light of fluorescent stones.

At that moment, everyone held their weapons and held their breath, following closely, one after another, afraid of falling behind and getting lost.

As time passed, the bamboo tips overhead lowered increasingly, eventually touching the carriage roofs.

The scratching sound of the bamboo tips on the carriage roofs was jarring and sharp, making everyone feel oppressed, yet Master You still indicated no enemies were present.

Traversing this peculiar bamboo forest, everyone felt as if they were crawling inside the mouth of some creature, with the bamboo tips serving as its sharp fangs.

In such an environment, Li Huowang lost track of how long they had walked; the dizziness made him lose his sense of time.

Suddenly, he perceived light in the distance—an exit!

Excitedly, he raised his longsword, which could cut through iron like mud, and swung it forcefully, felling a large section of bamboo, allowing dazzling sunlight to stream in.

The sun in the sky made everyone instinctively squint; it was so blinding. Judging by the sun's position, it must already be afternoon.

Once they recovered and looked ahead, their eyes widened. Behind the strange forest, they saw a village.

In the distance, houses with green tiles were scattered unevenly, looking no different from any other village Li Huowang had seen on their journey.

By a crystal-clear pond at the village entrance, several young women and married women were pounding clothes while chatting and laughing about everyday matters.

"Senior Brother Li, are you sure this is the place? Have we come to the wrong location?" Xiaoman asked, her brows slightly furrowed in doubt.

Quickly reviewing the location given by Abbess Jingxin in his mind, Li Huowang put away the Daoist bell in his hand and began walking toward the village in the distance.

"Stay close and don't let your guard down. This might just be an illusion created by the 'Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month.'"

"'Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month'... would it be a village?" Bai Lingmiao murmured.

Her words echoed Li Huowang's own thoughts. The only information he had received from the abbess about the Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month was that this evil entity was red.

As Li Huowang and his companions approached, the women washing clothes were naturally the first to notice them. They picked up their garments and whispered among themselves as they walked toward the village.

The approach of such a large group of people wearing black veiled bamboo hats clearly drew the villagers' attention. Young men, in groups of three to five, gathered at the village entrance with farming tools, their gazes wary.

"Strangers! What brings you to Wujia Village? Are you just passing through or visiting relatives?" an old man with a goatee shouted from a distance at Li Huowang.

Li Huowang's gaze swept over the faces of all the villagers, but he found no abnormalities; on the surface, it truly seemed like a normal village.

*Could the Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month be here?* Li Huowang wondered silently.

When the village elder called out a second time, Li Huowang led his group forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and unfolded the map before them.

"Elder, excuse me, is the location on this map your village?"

"Huh? Asking for directions?" The old man took the map and whispered with the people beside him.

Li Huowang stared intently at their faces, observing every expression.

After discussing for a while, the elder returned the map with both hands. "Strangers, you've come to the wrong place. The location on this map is twenty to thirty *li* from here."

"Wrong place? Not there yet?" Li Huowang quickly calculated the distance from Ancizi Temple to here in his mind. Abbess Jingxin had said it was two hundred *li*, and since he wasn't a machine, a slight error seemed normal.

"Heh heh, then I was clumsy to have come to the wrong place," Li Huowang said generously, cupping his hands in greeting toward the villagers again.

"However, Elder, the sun is about to set. Could we perhaps stay for a night? We've been traveling for half a month and are truly exhausted."

"Well..." The elder looked at Li Huowang and his group, clear wariness in his eyes.

"Elder, please extend us this convenience," Li Huowang said with a smile, moving closer, his long, elegant robe brushing the elder's hand.

Feeling a slight weight in his palm, the elder's expression immediately shifted. He pinched his fingers.

"Alright, our west wing is still empty. You can stay there, but remember, only for one night."

As the two carriages rolled over the moss-covered flagstones into the village, Gouwa leaned over and whispered, "Senior Brother Li, didn't we not find the right place?"

Li Huowang subtly turned and glanced at the villagers peeking out from their doorways.

"Perhaps we haven't gone wrong? Perhaps this *is* the place we're looking for?"

In all his time out, the most important lesson he'd learned was to believe, at most, only a third of what others said.

Since the Eighteenth Day of the Twelfth Month could take on any form, a complex village would undoubtedly be a very convenient place to hide.

He didn't know if it consumed people, but if it did, this village would also be a very convenient food source.

His gaze began to search, seeking out all red objects throughout the village, but even upon reaching a house within the village, he still found no red whatsoever.

Arriving beneath the village entrance archway, the elder stood with hands clasped, observing the outsiders before him.

"Now, let me just say, Wujia Village has many rules. These are ancestral rules that cannot be changed. If you wish to stay, that's fine, but you must abide by them. If you cannot, then leave now."

"Rules?"